ART AND CULTURE OF THE SANTALS

Art and Culture of the
Santals:
Santali culture is such that it
had and has been attracting
many scholars and
anthropologists since
centuries. The first attempt
to study the Santali culture
was done by the Mughals
and which followed by the
Christian missionaries. The
most famous of them was the
Norwegian-born Reverend
Paul Olaf Bodding. Unlike
many other adivasi groups
of the Indian subcontinent,
the Santals are known for
preserving their native
language despite waves of
migrations and invasions
from Mughals, Europeans,
British and others.
Santali culture is depicted in
the paintings and artworks in
the walls of their houses.
Local mythology includes the
stories of the Santhal
ancestors Pilchu Haram
and Pilchu Bhudi.
The Santhal people love
music and dance. Like other
Indian people groups, their
culture has not been
influenced by any mainstream
Indian culture and or by
Western culture, but
traditional Santhals have
own way of music and dance.
Santali music differs from
Hindustani classical music in
significant ways. Onkar
Prasad has done the most
recent work on the music of
the Santhal but others
preceded his work. The
Santal traditionally
accompany many of their
dances with two drums: the
Tamak‘ and the Tumdak’.
The flute (tiriao) was
considered the most
important Santhal traditional
instrument and still evokes
feelings of nostalgia for
many Santhals. Santali dance
and music traditionally
revolved around Santhal
religious celebrations.
However, Santhal music and
dance both retain
connections to traditional
celebrations. The names of
many Santhal tunes are
derived from the traditional
ritual with which they were
once associated. Sohrai
tunes, for example, were
those sung at the Sohrai
festival. Santali rituals are
mainly comprised of sacrificial
offerings and invocations to
the spirits, or bongas.
The Santhals are musicians
and dancers par excellence
and have dances for every
imaginable occasion. The
martial dances – Golwari and
Paikha are marked with
vigor, virility and a lot of
jumping and leaping in the
air. They carry bow and
arrows while doing martial
dances and perform mock
fights and attacks. Their
courtship and marriage
dances are typical. These
dances, romantic and lively
in nature, are performed on
full moon nights. The loud
drumming, resembling
thunder, calls the belles of
the community and they come
dressed in their fineries,
adorned with flowers,
feathers and assemble under
a large banyan tree. The
young men come forward
taking strides with drums
and lilting songs on their
lips, and then the dance
commences in two rows, their
arms interlinking in pairs.
The rows surge forward like
rhythmic waves and then
recede with supple footwork
and swaying heads and
bodies. The boys in the row
opposite play on flutes,
drums, and large cymbals
and sing songs in perfect
harmony. After the dance the
boys and girls mingle and
have a good chat.
Santhal’s have their hunting
and sowing dances. On
Dassai festival men-folk
dance from one locality to
another. Then there are the
Jhika and the Lagren type
dances in which men and
women dance together. Men
form the outer ring and the
women the inner circle. The
Dhong and Lagren are
exclusively confined to
women. The Lagren has
many forms and variations
according to the occasion, be
it a marriage, a festival or
social gathering. All these
dances reflect their collective
nature, cohesion, community
feeling and social awareness.
They are great spontaneous
collective singers and
dancers. The Santhal women
and girls can be seen singing
and dancing while engaged in
their daily chore like sowing,
plantation, journeying to and
from the forest. They work
and sing simultaneously and
in between pause for a
round of dance. They use
song and music as a
convenient tool of dancing.
Dance is a super ordinate
and all the rest is
subordinate.
Adivasi Religio